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Muskingum County school students won’t have to make up the day they missed when 50 exotic
animals were let loose by their suicidal owner at a farm near Zanesville.

Calamity day waivers from West Muskingum, Maysville and Zanesville schools were accepted by
the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Quality School Choice and Funding, department
spokesman Patrick Gallaway said.

The districts canceled classes Oct. 19, the day after Terry Thompson released his menagerie
of wild animals, which included bears, lions and tigers. By that point, most of the animals had
been shot and killed, but officials didn’t know whether any remained on the loose.

Later, the districts were told the cancellation might not be considered a calamity day, which
is reserved for bad weather, disease or problems with buildings or equipment. In Ohio, school
districts are allowed five calamity days a year. The Zanesville-area districts applied for waivers
but prepared to add an extra day to their school calendar.

Gallaway said the state department found a way to accept the waivers by noting that the loose
animals essentially rendered buses inoperable, one of the legal qualifications for a calamity day.

What is being called the Wild Animal Day could lead to changes in the calamity day law. State
schools Superintendent Stan Heffner hopes to find a way to make law enforcement emergencies qualify
as a reason to cancel school without a required make-up day, Gallaway said.